Wow, Nina couldn't believe it. This was going to be her last year at Hogwarts. Her last year living in Gryffindor House. Her last year playing Quidditch. Her last year to hang with some amazing mates, except for seeing a few of them on occasion here and there in Diagon and wherever else. She was a bit sad to put it all behind come next May, but she was grateful that she did have one amazing year left. She would definitely make the most of the time with all those she cared about.

The years had gone by like a whirlwind for Nina. She remembered her very first night at Hogwarts, the big hat sorting her into Gryffindor House. She remembered when she was approved for the Quidditch Team as a Chaser. She remembered when she earned the name "Speed Demon" for how fast she was. She remembered all the silly pranks she pulled on both students and staff. The pranks were innocent of course. Nina could and would never do anything to hurt another. It wasn't in her nature to do so.

Nina had finished unpacking in her dorm and walked down to the Common Room. As always, her chimp Amadeus was with her. She held her simian sidekick in her arms as she stepped over and sat on a sofa.

"Well, Amadeus," she said, knowing he would fully understand her and she him due to her ability to communicate with apes. "Here we are again. So happy to be back. I miss playing Quidditch, I miss my mates, I even miss a few Profs."

"I miss the fruit plates in the Great Hall," said the chimp.

"Is that all you miss now?" chuckled Nina.

"Well I can't bloody well go to classes and play Quidditch, can I?" sighed Amadeus.

"Yes, I suppose not," laughed Nina. "Never fear. You'll be snacking on fruit plates soon."


AIDEN URQUART ALLEANA LEI MOON HUGO BILIUS WEASLEY LAILA IMOGEN BRANDON @llp LOUIS SIRIUS WEASLEY LUCETIOS CHOI MOON MATTHEW SVEN JOHANSON @shava4

   Ally had come downstairs from the fifth year dorm mostly to make an appearance. Her robes had quickly been discarded in favor of her pajamas. No one in Ally's family was a big fan of having to wear clothes any more than strictly necessary, but as it was against school policy to be in the common room naked, she settled for as close as she could get while still being considered 'decent'. She could hear Nina Devoll's voice, and animal sounds in response, which meant she was talking to the chimp again. It seemed a bit odd to Ally, the idea of being able to talk to animals, but then again, there might be times when it would come in handy. Still, she liked the hand she'd personally been dealt. Being able to change one's face (and everything else for that matter) was dead useful. 

   She reached the bottom of the stairs and found the room largely deserted. It was likely the majority were either still getting settled, or still down in the hall enjoying the feast. Sitting on the overstuffed sofa across from her house mate, she grinned. "Hi Nina" she focused on the chimp a moment. "How's life Amadeus?" While she felt a bit strange talking to the chimp since she couldn't talk to animals, it seemed rude to interrupt the conversation and not speak to both....err...participants. She crossed her legs and nodded toward the door. "I bet the boys are still down stuffing their faces" she pointed out. "But my dorm is empty so I'm not sure where the rest are." In a few hours, she would be meeting Aiden down here to head up to the roof, but not until everyone was asleep. She had left her friend in the Great Hall since he hadn't finished eating, but she hoped he'd be back soon. She wasn't one for small talk really, and she'd always found it difficult to relate to most girls. If the word 'boys' came up, she generally tuned out. 

   "Any advice on studying for the O.W.L's?" she asked, giving it at least some effort for the sake of keeping up the conversation. "The professors are starting in early this year." 

Words: 371
Outfit: here

Lyrics: Boom Clap - Charli XCX
Notes: Gah, Ally...
Tags: @nina
AIDEN URQUART

Nina was still going on about this and that with Amadeus when she heard someone enter the Common Room. She turned and smiled to see Ally Moon, a Fifth Year who she considered a good mate and enjoyed being around. Nina said that about many in Gryffindor House, whatever their year was. She loved her "family" and would miss them a great deal after the term was over.

"Hello, love," she said to Ally. "Good to see you again. I'd hug you, but I've got this bundle of fun in my arms right now."

"I'm a bundle of what?" asked Amadeus.

Nina interpreted for Ally when she asked the chimp how life was. He replied, then waved at Ally.

"Amadeus says life is one surprise after the next, especially when he lives it with me," she said. "We're going to pretend he meant that in a good way." Nina chuckled at that.

Nina sat down next to Ally and laughed as the girl spoke of the boys stuffing their faces.

"Probably, but you have to admit the food here is great and it is quite easy to indulge in it, especially when they spoil you with all the desserts," she said. "But I'm sure others will be a long soon. You know how crowded this room will be soon enough."

Nina then thought a bit when Ally asked about advice for the O.W.L.'s. She remembered the insanity of studying for all of them, and what a "joyous" time she had when she actually did them.

"Don't underestimate them," she said. "That's my best advice. Anything your Profs stress on in class, write it down and read up on it. Grimp's going to especially grill you on Defense Against The Dark Arts, and you know how merciless he is when grading in general."

ALLEANA LEI MOON

It said a lot about Nina that she was one of the few girls Ally got along with. It was nice to have someone older she could talk to about the difficulties she sometimes had fitting in among her fellow Gryffindors. Her family was rather infamously Slytherin, and she had never been ashamed of that part of her heritage. Despite the improvements in the last couple of decades, however, there were still Gryffindors who held prejudice against all those in Salazaar’s house, and who couldn’t forgive Ally’s pride in her family despite the fact she was placed in Gryffindor. Nina, however, wasn’t that way, and for that Ally was grateful enough to converse with a Amadeus through a translator, though she still sometimes felt silly.

“That’s all right” she smiled at them both as she sat. “I’m sure Amadeus wouldn’t appreciate being uprooted just now anyway.” She settled in rather unceremoniously. “How was your summer? Both of you?” When Amadeus waved, she grinned and waved back. “You’re charming as ever, Amadeus” she told the chimp. “You’d put some of the boys here to shame.” She smiled approvingly when Nina translated. “Sounds like the best life in the world to me” she answered. “I love surprises.” She flirted with Nina sometimes, though she was fairly certain her friend didn’t go that way. She laughed, “of course he meant it in a good way. He’s charming, remember?” When Nina moved to sit next to her, she relaxed next to the older girl on the sofa.

A nod as she conceded about dessert. “I know” she acknowledged. “We probably have about another fifteen minutes before the chaos commences." It was one of Ally’s favorite things, however, the party that almost always broke out on the first night back. Nina’s estimation of the O.W.L classes made her groan, especially at the mention of Professor Grimp. “He’s a menace” Ally complained. “I think he thinks his class is the only one anyone should pay attention to, at least that’s what it seems like based on all the homework he assigns.” She shrugged, “at least we’ll have a few days before things really pick up.” She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head to address Amadeus. “Want to go to class for me? They might buy it with the metamorph thing.” She grinned.

Words: 408
Outfit: here
Lyrics: Maps - Maroon 5
Notes: Hmm...
Tags: @nina

Returning to the dorm with a full stomach was such a wonderful thing, he reflected. While never starved at home as his parents knew from his older brother what having a teenager around was like, he never had felt good about asking for more. Here at Hogwarts he could overstuff if he wanted and there was no one to make feel bad nor himself. So with a few snacks stashed in his pockets for his trunk, Aiden arrived with a group of guys en masse. He made it in the door behind a few of the others and dead stopped when his eyes fell upon Ally in her pjs. Pjs! Like they made pjs like that! It wasn't till another pushed him from behind he realized where he had stopped and moved in suddenly, embarrassed.

Giving her a wave he ran up to the dorm, falling in and leaning against the wall, his hand on his chest and his heart going fast! "Merlin!" he exclaimed before any of his year caught up and then he dodged to his bed yanking out his old sweatshirt shorts and a t shirt, sliding them on as he tossed his robes towards the bed. He was about to head down, when he realized how exposed he might be should she do one of her gaffs and leave him feeling....well, excited. Flustered, he caught up his bathrobe from last christmas (a joke from his father he didn't really get having not seen the star wars films) and slid his arms in it, loosely tying it around his waist as he tumbled back out of the room only having left a minute or so between his entering and leaving.

A run down the stairs softly before stopping out of sight at the bottom to hold his chest a moment as he slowed his breathing, calmed down the speed of his heart, and then entered, his hands in the pockets.

"Hi Nina, hey Ally," he said trying to seem casual and not excited, though his eyes studied the rest of the room before coming to Ally on purpose. Crossing over and sitting down beside her (on the other side from Nina) he smiled at her face, trying not to look down as he pulled his legs up on the couch under the large robe all snuggled lotus wise without even trying. He was very flexible and didn't give it a half a thought before he nodded at both girls. He had to think a moment before he remembered the chimp's name. "Hi Amadeus," softer so as to not disturb the conversation the girls had going, something about classes or OWLS.

ALLEANA LEI MOON

To Ally:

Nina relayed to Amadeus the compliments that Ally gave him. He turned and grinned at her to show his appreciation. He then looked back at Nina.

"Oh I like her," he said. "We should hang out with her more often. She's a lot nicer than the boy who you say keeps calling me a 'monkey'. How am I a monkey? I'm a chimp. Two completely different types of apes!"

"Not everyone here studies Muggle biology," said Nina.

She then smiled at Ally as the girl asked how their summer was.

"We had a lovely summer," she said. "Watched a few Pro Quidditch Games and got to take a trip to Scotland via Portkey. There was a lovely Wizarding Village near Glasgow. I learned to play the bagpipes... well sort of. Anyway, how was your summer, love?"

Nina then laughed when Ally said they had about fifteen minutes before the room was full.

"Then we don't move from this couch," she said. "It's ours. We've claimed it! Woe to those who try to take it!" Nina laughed again.

"You're laughing, but you're also warning others not to take a couch that's not yours," said Amadeus. "Your logic astonishes me." Nina just gave her chimp an odd look as Ally spoke of Grimp.

"They say he's always paranoid that another Wizarding War will break out," she said. "So that's why he's always extra hard on us. Must be because he's an ex-Auror and fought in the last one."

Nina asked Ally's question to Amadeus and the chimp perked up.

"Tell her I would be honored to!" he said. Nina stared at him wide-eyed and looked at Ally.

"Um... he said he would think about it," she said.

"I bloody well did not!" said Amadeus.

To Aiden:

Nina was glad Aiden had walked in at the moment as she didn't want go on with her chimp. She smiled at the boy and raised an eyebrow when he sat next to Ally the way he did.

"Hello, Aiden," she said. She then eyed the two of them again. She wondered if she could give them a bit of privacy at the time. She was about to say something further when Amadeus waved at the boy, then moved over to sit with him and Ally.

"I like these two," he said. "I'm sitting with them now."

ALLEANA LEI MOON AIDEN URQUART